BILL NUMBER: S440
SPONSOR: MYRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the election law, the correction law and the New York
city charter, in relation to voting rights and access for incarcerated
individuals
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to codify the right to vote for citizens
detained pretrial or for lesser offenses in correctional facilities who
have not lost the right to vote, and to provide local officials with
authorization and guidance to facilitate timely access to at least one
method of effective and secure voter registration and balloting via a
poll site or absentee balloting for all such eligible persons.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 titles this bill as the Democracy During Detention Act.
Section 2 of the bill adds a new section 8-109 to the Election Law.
Subdivision one of section 8-109 provides county election officials with
the option to deploy a poll site during the first two days of the early
voting period for not less than 6 hours total (3 hours per day) at
correctional facilities and local correctional facilities within their
jurisdiction, in lieu of either the residual duties to provide basic
voter registration and absentee ballot access under a new Election Law §
8-415, or the bipartisan absentee ballot collection program prescribed
for the most populous congregate facilities (e.g. nursing homes) by a
revised section 8-407 of the election law. Balloting at such a polling
place will be available to confined eligible citizens and facility staff
who are voters in the jurisdiction where the facility is located. This
includes "Golden Day" (the final day to register to vote in New York)
permitting eligible citizens to register and cast an affidavit ballot in
one stop, reducing administrative costs and protecting rights. Voters
who are residents of other jurisdictions are guaranteed voter access
under a new Election Law § 8-415, discussed below.
Subdivision two of section 8-109 applies to New York City facilities,
prescribing a robust poll site plan for election officials that includes
enhanced voter access safeguards, accounting for the differences in
scale and complexity of meeting the diverse needs of detained or
confined eligible citizens at Rikers or successor facilities. Election
officials have the option to deploy a poll site during the first three
days of t he early voting period for not less than 18 hours total (6
hours per day). This includes "Golden Day" permitting eligible citizens
to register and cast an affidavit ballot in one stop, reducing adminis-
trative costs and protecting rights.
Subdivision three of section 8-109 requires the board of elections to
develop a comprehensive facility voter access and security plan in
consultation and cooperation with and countersigned by the facility
leadership, which must be approved by the state board of elections.
Section 3 of the bill amends Election law § 8-406 to authorize biparti-
san local Board of Elections personnel to deliver absentee ballots via
the existing bipartisan absentee ballot collection program (in Election
Law § 8-407 as amended by Section 4 of the bill), to citizens detained
in correctional facilities and local correctional facilities who have
not lost the right to vote.
Section 4 of the bill amends Election Law § 8-407 and adds 2 new subdi-
visions (16) and (17). The existing § 8-407 bipartisan absentee ballot
collection program directs bipartisan teams of election officials to
conduct in-person visits to certain congregate residential al facilities
(e.g., nursing homes), to facilitate absentee voting, if the local board
of elections receives 25 absentee ballot requests from a covered facili-
ty. This section adds correctional facilities and local correctional
facilities to the list of covered facilities, with limited changes to
reflect the access needs of the eligible correctional population. The §
8-407 bipartisan absentee ballot collection program is modified for
correctional facilities and local correctional facilities to eliminate
the need for election officials to wait for 25 absentee ballot applica-
tions from the largest facilities in the most populous counties in the
state (including New York City facilities) to coordinate a visit to such
facility by a bipartisan team. If the population thresh old in subdivi-
sion 16 is triggered, the board of elections shall designate a biparti-
san team and schedule a visit to the facility or deploy a poll site as
described in new Election Law § 8-109, pursuant to an agreement with
facility leadership approved by the state board of elections. The board
of elections will also supply materials to conduct voter registration
and absentee balloting. This section also enhances intergovernmental
cooperation between Elections and Corrections officials and basic
recordkeeping, to ensure timely, fair, and effective voter access.
The new subdivision 16 of Election Law § 8-407 creates a population-
based trigger for the bipartisan absentee ballot collection program at
correctional facilities and local correctional facilities. Local boards
of elections that serve at least 100,000 registered voters will proac-
tively coordinate visits by bipartisan teams to facilitate registration
and voting at any correctional facility or local correctional facility
with a total census of 75 or more persons. Covered boards of elections
must consult and cooperate with facility leadership to develop a compre-
hensive facility voter access and security plan that written procedures
for the orderly and secure delivery and retrieval of registration and
voting materials. These procedures are reviewed for sufficiency and
election integrity by the State Board of Elections. The program at each
facility must be designed so that all eligible citizens have an effec-
tive opportunity to register and vote. Local election officials have the
discretion to decide to deploy bipartisan teams at correctional facili-
ties below the population threshold.
To account for the significant differences in scale and complexity in
meeting the diverse needs of detained or confined eligible citizens in
New York City, paragraph (b) of the new Election Law . 8-407(16) adds
additional duties to the bipartisan absentee ballot collection program
at correctional facilities in the City of New York, unless City election
officials decide to deploy a poll site at such facilities, per the new
Election Law § 8-109. The additional duties enhance voter access at
covered New York City facilities in three principal ways: Paragraph
(b)(i) requires the board to provide adequate assistive devices and
reasonable accommodations that improve access to voting for persons with
disabilities, and robust interpretive resources and language-related
assistance in voting as required by the New York Voting Rights Act and
in co ordination with the Poll Site Language Assistance Program
prescribed by the New York City Charter, on par with resources provided
to voters who are not confined. Paragraph (b)(ii) requires City election
officials to use the City Board's electronic, digital, and connectivity
resources to permit timely online voter registration and absentee ballot
application, or paper resources when necessary, and prescribes a timely
City Board of Elections visit to covered facilities for this purpose
between 45 and 30 days prior to an election. Paragraph (b)(iii) requires
the City Board to allocate sufficient equipment and personnel to ensure
effective voter access. Such resourcing determinations must take into
consideration the estimated number of eligible confined citizens to be
served, data relating to the time needed for bipartisan teams to process
voters, public safety and security considerations, the layout of build-
ings at the facility, and any other relevant factors.
The new subdivision 17 of Election Law § 8-407 provides potential
recourse under Article 17 of the election law if the rights and access
prescribed by this act are intentionally frustrated.
Section 5 of the bill adds a new § 8-415 to the Election Law to improve
residual voter registration and absentee ballot access for all eligible
citizens detained in correctional facilities and local correctional
facilities who have not lost the right to vote, wherever they are being
detained. Local election officials coordinate with facility leadership
to facilitate access to voting. All such eligible citizens must be
provided wit h effective voter registration and absentee ballot access,
regardless of where they are confined in the state, no later than twen-
ty-one days prior to election day. The State Board of Elections shall
issue non-partisan materials to clarify voter eligibility, voting rights
and rules, and voting options. These materials must be publicized and
distributed in correctional facilities.
Section 6 of the bill adds a new § 3-507 to the Election Law to author-
ize coordination and cooperation agreements with amenable leadership of
Federal correctional facilities, in order to provide eligible citizens
detained or confined at Federal correctional facilities in New York
State with effective access to voting. At the beginning of each Federal
election year, each board of elections must employ best efforts to
engage facility leadership with a proposal to offer voter registration
and balloting at Federal correctional facilities within their jurisdic-
tion, in a manner consistent with the programs the local election offi-
cials are already offering at state and local correctional facilities
within their jurisdiction (as prescribed by sections 8-109, 8-407, and
8-415 of the Election Law, respectively). To ensure orderly election
administration and integrity, the procedures governing any such program
must be agreed upon by the local election officials, the Federal facili-
ty leadership, and approved by the state board of elections.
Section 7 of the bill amends subdivision one of § 17-208 of the Election
Law, which provides for language-related assistance for prevalent
language-minorities, to include assistance to eligible citizens confined
at New York City correctional facilities who belong to a language-minor-
ity group when at least 300 detained citizens of voting age are members
of a single language-minority group and are limited English proficient.
Section 8 of the bill amends Corrections Law Article 20 § 500(j) regard-
ing who may visit a local correctional facility to authorize visits by
bipartisan teams from the board of elections in order to facilitate
timely and effective voter access in accordance with this act. Section 9
of the bill amends
§ 146(1) of the Correction Law regarding who may visit a correctional
facility to authorize visits by bipartisan teams from the board of
elections in order to facilitate timely and effective voter access in
accordance with this act.
Section 10 of the bill renames and renumbers § 75 of the Corrections Law
and adds new subdivisions 1, 2, and 3 to codify the right to vote for
otherwise-eligible American citizens detained in correctional facilities
who have not lost the right to vote. This is modeled on the Corrections
Law's Freedom of Worship law and protects the opportunity to register to
vote and request ballots. Facility leadership has a duty to cooperate
with local election officials to facilitate voter access.
Section 11 of the bill renames and renumbers § 510 of the Corrections
Law and adds new subdivisions 1, 2, and 3 to codify the right to vote
for otherwise-eligible American citizens detained in local correctional
facilities who have not lost the right to vote. This is modeled on the
Corrections Law's Freedom of Worship law and protects the opportunity to
register to vote and request ballots. Facility leadership has a duty to
cooperate with local election officials to facilitate voter access.
Section 12 of the bill amends Corrections Law § 137 to clarify that
otherwise-eligible citizens who have not lost the right to vote and
are being held in solitary confinement may not be deprived effective
access to voting.
Section 13 of the bill amends Subdivision 9 of section 1057-a of the New
York City charter to direct the Department of Corrections to assist,
coordinate, and cooperate with and the board of elections in developing
and implementing a plan to facilitate voter access i n accordance with
this Act.
Section 14 of the bill amends paragraph 4(a) of subdivision a of section
3202 of the New York City charter to extend the Civic Engagement Commis-
sion's language assistance program for providing language interpreters
at poll sites throughout New York city to correctional facilities and
local correctional facilities, where warranted based on existing method-
ology.
Section 15 of the bill sets forth the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Thousands of American citizens detained in New York jails each year have
not lost their right to vote, yet their access to voting is severely
limited, if not obstructed entirely by the circumstances of their
confinement. This jeopardizes civil rights and undermines the state's
interest in maintaining correctional policies that foster rehabilitation
and community reintegration Prison Policy Initiative, Eligible, But
Excluded: A Guide to Removing the Barriers to Jail Voting, October 2020,
https://bit.ly/44S8D5B).
This population includes otherwise-eligible citizens who are detained
pretrial or for lesser offenses and who have not lost (or did not lose)
their right to vote as a consequence for their alleged offenses. These
citizens have just one way to vote-by absentee ballot. Yet, they are
effectively being disenfranchised because of the absence of a voter
access program coordinated and facilitated by elections and corrections
officials. Currently, without such a program for this population, the
responsibility for voter access is illusory or amorphous at best, fall-
ing to local sheriffs, corrections staff, and civic groups, rather than
the bipartisan officials who administer local elections. This has led to
limited, variable and unpredictable access year-to-year and facility-to-
facility. The lack of statewide uniformity leaves an unaccountable void
filled by ad hoc arrangements, misinformation about eligibility, and
infringed rights. Modern state regulation is needed to adequately and
uniformly safeguard these civil rights and ensure the integrity of
elections. Notably, people of color are dramatically overrepresented in
American jails and prisons. Racial disparities are particularly stark
for Black Americans, who make up 38% of the incarcerated population
despite representing only 12% of U.S residents (Prison Policy Initi-
ative, Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2023, March 2023,
https://bitiv/3HPeZZ4
This legislation codifies the right to vote for citizens in correctional
facilities and local correctional facilities who have not lost the right
to vote (i.e., who are not currently incarcerated for a felony
conviction) and provides local officials with authorization and guidance
to facilitate timely access to at least one method of effective and
secure voter registration and ballot access for all such eligible
persons.
This policy provides interlocking voter access options for election
administrators, who need to serve voters in urban and rural localities,
and who are provided with discretion and flexibility to meet local needs
with limited resources. The act sets a statewide standard of minimum
access that enhances and clarifies the residual duty on local officials
to provide and facilitate basic voter registration and absentee ballot
access for eligible citizens detained in less populous correctional
facilities or local correctional facilities and citizens detained
outside their home county, reducing the logistical barriers to ballot
access that can unjustly suppress these legitimate voters.
The Election Law's Bipartisan Absentee Ballot Collection Program (EL §
8-407) for large nursing homes and congregate facilities is extended to
apply to the largest correctional facilities and local correctional
facilities in New York's most populous counties. Election officials are
authorized to proactively coordinate this program with facility leader-
ship, who must cooperate to ensure the eligible citizens confined at
each covered facility have a fair opportunity to timely register and
vote. Alternatively, local election officials have the option to deploy
a poll site at the populous facilities in their county, so eligible
confined citizens and facility staff can conveniently vote.
To account for the significant differences in scale and complexity in
meeting the diverse needs of detained or confined eligible citizens in
New York City, this bill prescribes heightened duties for New York City,
including: 1) additional time for voter registration and balloting; 2)
additional language access safeguards and protections for persons with
disabilities; and, 3) application of existing electronic and digital
technology (as the default, with paper forms as the backup) to reduce
barriers to voter registration and balloting caused by the circumstances
of confinement.
Finally, this act establishes a partnership of cooperation between
elections and corrections officials, clarifying the role of bipartisan
election officials in election-related tasks (eligibility, registration,
balloting materials) and the role of corrections to facilitate effective
voter access for citizens in their custody. The legislation also contem-
plates extending the interlocking programs prescribed above for state
and local correctional facilities to the eligible citizens detained or
confined at Federal correctional facilities in the state, pursuant to
comparable procedures that may be agreed upon between elections and
corrections officials.
This policy rectifies an ongoing injustice and is intended to provide
parity of access to civil rights to the extent possible and safeguards
for access disparities that account for the circumstances of confinement
to assure fair, timely, and secure access to voting for eligible citi-
zens in jails.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S6875 of 2023-24: Referred to Elections.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the state.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first day of July next succeeding the
da